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Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

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Penny Wise and Pound Foolish--a peeny, a pence, and a pound
A Penny, a Pence, and a Pound

Penny wise and pound foolish describes people who spend carefully on small items but waste money on larger expenses.

A person needs several US pennies (or British pence) to equal one British pound.

Several years ago, someone showed me all her bargains from a clearance sale. She proudly told me each item’s price. Near the end, she began saying, “I don’t know what this is, but it cost only …” Most amounts were less than a dollar. However, her total cost was large.

I remember wondering, Just what will she do with all these mystery objects? They’re not bargains if she has no use for them.

She was penny wise and pound foolish.

People might be penny wise and pound foolish if they:

  • Attempt their own home repairs but require an expert to repair their repairs.
  • Clip grocery coupons and then eat at an outrageously expensive restaurant.
  • Drive several miles to save a few cents per gallon on gasoline.
  • Neglect regular medical care that results in permanent disability.
  • Buy sale items on credit but pay the minimum on their credit card bill.

Don’t we often do the same with our life decisions?

We make the easy choices or do what looks good at the moment. Yet we fail to consider the long-term consequences.

Easy or cheap does not equal good or wise.

Let’s make smart choices in all our investments—financial, educational, occupational, social, emotional, and spiritual.

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise” Ephesians 5:15 (NIV).

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For Good Measure

For Good Measure

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For Good Measure--grocery scales above fruitMany of us prefer shopping at neighborhood stores and farmers markets. The product quality is only a small part of what makes them special. These merchants usually add extra to our purchase for good measure.

For good measure means more than a fair amount.

Such merchants believe giving extra is the right thing to do.If they lose a little money, that’s okay with them.

  • They value every customer.
  • We always receive fair treatment.

We like to buy from people we trust.

Even if their prices are higher than other stores, we still go there. They are our friends and neighbors. We go to the same activities and attend the same schools and churches.

However, they also give strangers more than necessary for good measure. Such kindness makes a difference in many lives.

Why not follow their example?

Let’s give more for good measure – more

  • Smiles
  • Encouragement
  • Financial help
  • Time
  • Attention to what matters most in life

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38 NIV)

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Let Go and Let God

Let Go and Let God

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Let Go and Let God

If we Google let go and let God, we receive about 37,400 results. This expression is probably best known as a slogan for Al-Anon, a support group for friends and family of people with addictions. Yet, its popularity goes much further. But what does it mean?

First, let’s look at what let go and let God does not mean.

It does not:

  • Justify neglect of responsibility
  • Equal apathy or laziness
  • Mean accepting defeat

God gave us a brain and physical abilities for a reason. He expects us to use them, under His guidance.

Let go and let God does mean we:

  • Realize we are not all knowing. God is.
  • Understand we are not all powerful. God is.
  • Accept we cannot be everywhere. God can.
  • Recognize we do not sees life’s big picture — past, present, and future. God does.
  • Confess our limitations in order to receive God’s unlimited power.
  • Let go of fear, jealousy, ego, worry, and other negative emotions.

Releasing control goes against our nature.

Some of us want to:

  • Fix any problem
  • Take responsibility for every solution
  • Manage everyone and everything

Yet, only by releasing our lives and those we love to God’s will can we experience true peace.

Like the child in the offering plate, we must give God all. God’s answers may not come in the way and at the time we expect. Nevertheless, they will come.

We have a choice.

Will we let go and let God or continue our self-defeating quest for control?

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Thanks to Karen Atwood for the suggestion.

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A Dime a Dozen

A Dime a Dozen

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A Dime a DozenWhen we want to describe something common or easy to find, a dime a dozen says it well.

A dime a dozen often implies a lack of worth.

A dime won’t buy much. Occasionally we buy cheap toys we know will break easily. Yet we think, If they break, we can just throw them away.

How often do we treat people as worthless?

  • How do we view those with little money?
  • When someone makes a mistake, do we help them or give up on them?
  • How do we act around those different from us?
  • Do we look down on those who fail to meet our standards?
  • How many have we labeled hopeless and undeserving of our time and effort?

Sadly, many people accept this judgment.

After years of mistreatment, they give up. They stop seeking a better life. They believe they deserve the way we treat them.

How dare we do that to another human being!

A broken toy can be thrown away. A broken person needs our love and concern.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:3 NIV).

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Over the Hill

Over the Hill

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Over the Hill“You’re not over the hill yet, but my mom just went over the hill.” Those words came from an elementary-age girl whose mother had just celebrated her 35th birthday. The mother laughed. She remembered thinking the same thing about her mother at that age.

Young people often believe middle-age and older adults are over the hill.

They think they have reached their peak in life. In their opinion, anyone 35 or older:

  • Is out of touch with the latest fads, language, and styles
  • Stops having fun
  • Sets no more worthwhile goals
  • Loses their spirit of adventure

Wrong! The fun just begins, if we relax and enjoy the journey.

  • The need to impress, to fit in with the cool crowd, and to prove ourselves diminishes.
  • We learn to enjoy the moment for what it is, not what we wish.
  • That freedom exhilarates, and the future looks promising.

As Robert Browning said:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith ‘A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!’”

“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 104:33 NIV).

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Bloom Where You’re Planted

Bloom Where You’re Planted

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Bloom Where You're PlantedThis picture, taken in a geyser basin of Yellowstone National Park, demonstrates bloom where you’re planted perfectly. Surrounded by geysers and hot springs, these flowers thrive. I’m certain a plant scientist could explain that. However, to an untrained eye, it looks impossible. In the midst of boiling water, thick steam, and crusty ground, flowers grow and bloom.

These flowers remind us to bloom where we’re planted.

Our life circumstances (where we’re planted) may be good or bad. Yet we can grow and spread cheer (bloom) regardless of our circumstances. Certainly, that’s easier when life goes well. At the same time, some of the most cheerful people have experienced the hardest lives.

  • A poor man with a sick wife gives snacks to children at his church every week.
  • A dying wife encourages her husband and children to live well after her death.
  • A hungry woman gives the last of her food to neighbors.

Will we bloom where we’re planted and spread joy?

Or will we wilt and spread gloom? Each of us must choose.

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon” (Psalm 92:12 NIV).

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A Little Bird Told Me

A Little Bird Told Me

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A Little Bird Told MeWhen people don’t want to reveal their source of information, they may say, “A little bird told me.”

Sometimes they share positive news that gives the listener joy. At other times, their negative words cause great pain.

The information source may never be known. Yet, with modern technology, the origin can usually be found. We hear and read daily of politicians, entertainers, and even working class people who get embarrassed by what they have said or done. They didn’t think anyone heard or saw them. They were wrong.

If we don’t want our words repeated, we’d better not say them.

If we don’t want our actions shown, we’d better not do them. Who knows what little bird may be listening or watching, waiting to reveal what we say and do.

“Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.” (Ecclesiastes 10:20 NIV).

Thanks to all who suggested this and other expressions. Do you have a favorite expression or one you want explained? If so, please comment.

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Make Hay While the Sun Shines

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

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Make Hay While the Sun Shines 1-tractor and hay cutter in fieldA farmer has to make hay while the sun shines.

His work depends on the weather.

  • If rain delays cutting the hay, it may be tough and have little food value.
  • Rainfall after hay is cut, but before it’s raked and baled, requires extra work to remove the moisture.
  • If the rain lasts too long, an entire crop could be lost.
  • Without hay for their livestock, farmers have to buy feed or sell their animals.

Make Hay While the Sun Shines-hay balesHow does make hay while the sun shines apply to non-farmers?

We can spend days or years planning what we want to do. However, we have only one certain way to achieve our goals: If the circumstances are right, act now.

Several clichés explain this particular farming expression:

  • Make the most of your opportunities.
  • We have no guarantee of tomorrow.
  • There’s no time like the present.

Let’s act while we have the opportunity.

Let’s make hay while the sun shines! If we wait, we may lose our chance forever.

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work (John 9:4 NIV).

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Busybody

Busybody

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BusybodyI don’t want to tell my secrets to a gossip (a busybody), do you?

If someone talks about everybody else, that person will talk about us.

Gossips “stick their noses into other people’s business.” They try to learn all they can about others, especially anything negative. Then they tell everyone else about it. This usually makes the gossip look far worse than the one discussed. No one trusts such negative attitudes, actions, or words.

Many people would never spread a falsehood about others, yet they freely share negative truths. Truly, a shameful truth hurts just as much as a shameful lie. As a result, some words are better left unsaid.

Years ago a teacher gave our class three questions to ask before we speak:

  1. Is what I plan to say true?
  2. Is what I plan to say kind?
  3. Does what I plan to say glorify God?

Answering the first question is easy. The second becomes more difficult. The third has a much better chance of keeping our mouths closed.

Use these three questions. You won’t regret it.

“A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much” (Proverbs 20:19 NIV).

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Hold Your Horses

Hold Your Horses

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Hold Your HorsesAs small children, my sister and I did not enjoy shopping. Instead, we wanted to play. So, when we had to shop with Mom or Dad, we walked fast.

Like horses ready for a race, we had one goal. We wanted to return home, the quicker the better. Our plan had one problem. When we walked fast, our parents usually yelled, “Hold your horses!” They were telling us to stop. It wasn’t time to go. We needed to buy groceries or clothes.

Similar to horses obeying their riders, we obeyed our parents. We walked slower. We tried to bridle (a nice horsy word) our energy. We didn’t enjoy it. It interfered with our plans. Yet it taught us important lessons.

Listening to our parents helped us avoid danger. Later we learned to identify those dangers for ourselves.  Just like young horses, we needed guidance. We needed patience. We needed to learn to use our energy for the benefit of ourselves and others.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2 NIV).

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